Mahabubnagar (Telangana): Continuing his attack on Congress and its leader Rahul Gandhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that the opposition party "hates Hindus and Hindu festivals so much that it is now being exposed daily" and "wants to make Hindus second-class citizens in their own country".
Addressing a rally in Mahbubnagar in Telangana, PM Modi referred to remarks on former Indian Overseas Congress chief Sam Pitroda about the colour of skin of Indians and some of his other remarks to attack the Congress.
He targeted Rahul Gandhi as "shehzada" and Sam Pitroda as "guru" of the Congress leader.
"Congress hates Hindus and Hindu festivals so much that it is now being exposed daily. The shehzada's guru even went ahead to say that the Ram Temple should not have been built. He went on to say that the construction of Ram Temple and celebrating Ram Navami is anti-India, it is against the idea of India... If you want to visit Ayodhya and celebrate Ram Navami, are you anti-India? Congress wants to make Hindus second-class citizens in their own country. Is this why they talk about vote-jihad?" PM Modi asked.
"The shehzada of Congress set out with 'Mohabbat ki Dukaan' but the board of the shop is no longer visible and he is busy dividing the society (samaj me zehar gholne me jut gayen hain)...supporters of 'tukde tukde gang' are talking of dividing country into pieces. His advisor, sitting in America, says that the people of South India are Africans. He sees the people of Telangana as Africans... The Congress decides who is Indian and who is African based on the colour of our skin," he alleged.
The Prime Minister alleged that Congress is anti-Hindu by mentality. "Congress is fully involved in giving the reservation of SC, ST, and OBC to Muslims on the basis of religion... Remember one thing, 'Vanchit ka jo adhikaar hai, Modi uska chaukidar hai'," he said.
He said Congress government in Telangana has not worked for farmers.
"This area is blessed by Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers. But the farmers of this area have to migrate for labour. The state government is not going ahead with irrigation projects in the region. Congress has made a false promise of loan waiver for farmers. If anything, Congress has betrayed the farmers," he said.
"If there is something the Congress party has given to the people of Telangana, it is betrayal, betrayal, betrayal only," he added.
He accused Bharat Rashtra Samithi and Congress of being "very selfish parties" and said they had not served the people of the state.
"They used the people of Telangana to serve their own interests. You chose KCR in 2009, but after Telangana was formed, he forgot you! The new CM of Telangana, similarly, has nothing to do with you. He is busy just in making the high command sitting in Delhi happy," PM Modi said.
"Congress came to power after making a lot of promises. But after it formed the government, it became nothing but the 'photo copy' of BRS. The loot which the BRS did in years, Congress 'managed' to do it within a few months," he added.
The Prime Minister also referred to his earlier 'RR tax' dig at Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy.
"Although I have been talking about 'RR Tax' for a few days, I didn't specifically take anyone's name. But see, Telangana's CM provided clarification before the media about this 'RR Tax'. This implies that he himself accepts that he is BJP has fielded DK Aruna from Mahabubnagar, Challa Vamshi Chand Reddy is Congress candidate and BRS has given ticket to sitting MP Manne Srinivas Reddy.
Voting for all 17 seats in Telangana will take place on May 13 in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections.
